Door closing device



12,1946 a. w. SLQPA 394,878

- DOOR CLOSING DEVICE Filed Jan. 8, 1945 45 INVENTOR- Aka/v55 W, @1724.

Patented Feb. 12, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE noon CLOSING DEVICE"I George S lopa, Chicago; Ill. v Application a s 8, 1945, Serial n571,797 I V 'Y flo claiihs. (01 292 --79;)f} f} The invention relates toimprovements in door closing devices and more particularly to such adevice as is particularly useful to'maintain a tight seal between arefrigeratordoorand the. door frame or jamb;

Refrigerators and other compartments req-uiring a tight closing of adoor frequently are pro vided with means intended to hold the door intight sealing engagement Withthe door jamb. Such known devices as areavailable for this purpose frequently lack efficient means lto'retainthe door tightly closed under allconditions of use, and moreparticularly as when the sealing strips on the door become worn; alsosuch known devices often become useless for the purpose. in-

tended, due to their springsbecoming broken or otherwise losingtheir-tension. Itis, the'refore, an object of the present invention toprovide a door closing device which is effective tov maintain a tightseal between a door and its jamb regardless of the condition of thesealing strips thereon,- and one in which a worn out or broken springmay be easily and quickly replaced and the tension of the springsadjusted to insure proper operation of the door closer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door closing device ofthe character described with novel means to facilitate adjustment of theclosing device, having few operating parts, which is easy to manufactureand assemble, positive in operation, and highly efiicient.

Other and further objects of the present in-- vention will be apparentfrom the followingdescription and claims and are illustrated in the ac-'Fig. 2 is an end elevational yiew of the door closing device, showing itin effective position. Fig. 3 a side elevational 'view of the device,showing the door closing element in an inoperative position. a

'll'ig.v 4 is a vertical sectional on line 4-''4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the disclosure in the accompanying drawing, the doorclosing device embodying the features of the present invention is shownmounted upon the door frame or jamb ll of a door opening and in doorlooking or sealing position with respectto a'door l2 fitted into saiddoor opening. The door l2 may be of any usual construction commonlyincorporated in refrigerator doors and may include a sealing strip i3,arranged on it inside face I4v to have a tight sealing abutment with theface of the door jamb or frame II when closed. The door is provided onits freeedge with a projection or bumper plate detail view taken l5,which extends outwardly'from the free edge 5; ct I8 is firmly secured inany required position The,

companying drawing which, by way "of illustration, shows a preferredembodiment and the principle thereof and which is considered to be the:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view ofthe door.

closing device, showing it mounted in place. x

of the door and includes an inclined outer face tiw hich preferablymerges into the plane of the outside'surface of the door I2. Theprojection or bumper plate I5 is intended to engage the door closing'device when the door is swung into either an opened or aclosed-position so as to actuate said device for moving it into anineffective or an effective position. v t

The door closing device, generally indicated at IT, includes a mountingbracket I8, which preferably is substantially rectangular in shapeandhas slotted apertures I9 at each end to receive mounting screws 2| bymeans of which the brackupon the outside face of the door frame I l.bracket I8 includes a pair of spaced apart bearing standards 22 havingaligned bearing openings therein each to receive one of a pair oftrunnions 23 extending outwardly longitudinally from the end walls 24 ofa rocker arm 25 which is arranged between said standards. The rocker arm25 preferably is cast in one piece, although it will be understood asthe description proceeds that it may belfabricated in any other suitablefashion,

suchas from sheet material or from separate parts joined together.

The rocker arm 25 is substantially hollow-and it includes the side wall24, a back wall 26, and

; inner and outer end walls 21 and 28 respectively.

' arm, as best shown in Fig. 4. The webs 29 define a plurality ofchambers 3| and 32 within the hollow cast arm and said webs furtherprovide mounting means for a pair of rollers 33 and 34 arranged withinand one at each end of the chamber 3| upon bearing pins 35.

The door closing device I! is positioned, with respect to the projectionl5 on the edge of the door l2, so that one or the other of the rollers33 and 34 is disposed in the path of said projection when the door isbeing moved into opened or closed position. When the door closing deviceis in the inefiective position illustrated in Fig. 4, the roller 34 isso located as to be engaged by the projection I5 while the door I2 isbeing closed whereupon the rocker arm 25 is rotated about its pivot 23 asuflicient distance to enable the projection l5 to pass clear of theroller 34.

Means is provided within the rocker arm 25 to cause said rocker arm tobe moved forcibly into the efiective position best illustrated in Fig. 2whereby the other roller 33 is brought into tight pressing engagementwith the outside. face of the door [2 to thereby insure a tight sealingof the door opening thereby. Such means is best illustrated in Figs. 3and 4 and it preferably consists of a pair of tension springs 38, onemounted in each of the two chambers 32, Each of these springs isconnected at one of their ends to an eyelet fitting 31 suitably mountedin the outer end wall 28 of the rocker arm and the other ends of saidsprings are each connected to one of a pair of threaded stems 38. Thestems 38 are threadingly engaged in an internally threaded sleeve 39carried in the bracket l8. As illustrated in detail in Fig. 4, eachinternally threaded sleeve 39 extends freely through the bracket l8 andis provided on its lower end with an enlarged flange 4| suitably seatedin a similarly shaped recess 42 in the bottom face of said bracket. Thebody portion of said sleeve 39 is threaded externally and its upwardlyextending free end 43 is suitably cut away to provide a, hex-head whichmay be engaged by a wrench or other tool so as to be rotated in itsmounting. Obviously, rotation of the sleeve 39 is effective to move thethreaded stem 38 associated therewith upwardly or downwardly and saidsleeve is locked in place by a lock nut 44 threaded thereon.

It should be observed that the connected ends of the springs 36 are inoif-center relation to the trunnions 23 about which the rocker arm 25rotates. Consequently, initial movement of the rocker arm from theineffective position shown in Fig. 4 towards the effective positionillustrated in Fig. 2, upon closing movement of the door, will carry thespring mountings past dead center with relation to the trunnions 23,whereupon the tension of the springs acts to pull the rocker arm intoits lowermost or effective position, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and thusretain the door closed tightly.

When the door is moved from its closed position (Fig. 2) into an openedposition, the inclined face 16 of the projection l5 engages the roller33 to carry the rocker arm towards its ineifective position until suchtime as the springs 35 again move past the dead centerpositionjpreviously noted, whereupon said springs throw the rocker arminto its fully ineffective position as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Due to the fact that the springs 36 may lose some of their tension,because of crystallization or other causes after a prolonged period ofuse or because said springs may become broken andconsequently requirereplacement, means is p esent in the form of the stems 38 and sleeves 39or adjusting the tension of the springs to thereby retain them balanceand under such tension as may be required to insure effective operationof the device. Both the lock nut 44 and the hexheads 43 on the sleeves39 are accessible for manipulation and adjustment from the outside of,

the bracket l8 and consequently it is not necessary to dismantle thedoor closing device or to remove it from its mounting should suchadjustment or replacement of a spring or springs become necessary.

Movement of the rocker arm 25 beyond a predetermined effective position,while the door is open, is prevented by providing suitable flanges 45 oneach of the standards 22, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These flangesare formed integral with the standards and they extend inwardly towardseach other a sufficient distance to underlie the end walls 24 of therocker arm 25.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been describedherein and disclosed in detail in the accompanying drawing, it should beunderstood that the invention is capable of embodying a variety ofmodifications in detail construction without departing from the spiritof the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket, a hollowrocker-arm pivoted on said bracket, said arm having a roller chamber anda spring chamber on each side of said roller chamber, rollers mountedone at each end of the roller chamber for selective engagement by a doorwhen the latter is moved into opened and closed positions, and a springin each spring chamber each anchored at one end to the rockerarm and atthe other end to said bracket for impartin a snap-action movement of therockerarm toward and from operative positions.

2. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket, a hollowrocker-arm pivoted on said bracket, said arm having a roller chamber anda spring chamber on each side of said roller chamber, rollers mountedone at each. end of the roller chamber for selective engagement by adoor when the latter is moved into opened and closed positions, a springin each spring chamber each anchored at one end to the rocker-arm and atthe other end to said bracket for imparting a snap-action movement ofthe rocker-arm toward and from operative positions, and means on thebracket to adjust the force of said springs.

3. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket, a hollowrocker-arm pivoted on said bracket, said arm having a roller chamber anda spring chamber on each side of said roller chamber, .rollers mountedone at each end of the roller chamber for selective engagement by a doorwhen the latter is moved into opened and closed positions, a spring ineach spring chamber each anchored at one end to the rockerarm,adjustable elements attached to the other ends of said springs, andmeans in said bracket engageable with said adjustable elements to adjustthe force of said springs.

4. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket,'a hollowrocker-arm pivoted on said bracket, a pair of rollers one mounted ateach end of said rocker-arm, chambers in said arm one on each side ofsaid pair of rollers, springs one in each chamber each secured at oneend to said arm and at its other end to said bracket, and means on saidbracket to adjust the force of said springs.

5. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket, a hollowrocker-arm pivoted between its ends on said bracket, a pair of rollersone mounted at each end of said rocker-arm, chambers in said arm one oneach side of said pair of rollers, springs one in each chamber eachsecured at one end to said arm and at its other end to said bracket, andmeans on said bracket to adjust the force of said springs.

6. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket havingspaced bearing standards, a hollow rocker-arm pivoted between saidstandards; a pair of spaced rollers supported on the rocker-arm in acommon plane midway between the side walls of said arm, a pair ofchambers in said arm one between said pair of rollers and each side wallof said arm, a spring confined within each chamber each having one endsecured to the rocker-arm, and means on the bracket to which the otherends of the springs are secured adjustable to vary the force of thesprings.

7. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket havingspaced bearing standards, a hollow rocker-arm pivoted between saidstandards; a pair of spaced rolers supported on the rocker-arm in acommon plane midway between the side walls of said arm, a pair ofchambers in said arm one between said pair of rollers and each side wallof said arm, a spring confined within each chamber each having one endsecured to the rocker-arm, and its other end attached to said bracket.

8. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket havingspaced bearing standards, a hollowrocker-arm pivoted between saidstandards; a pair of spaced rollers supported on the rocker-arm in acommon plane midway between the side walls of said arm, a pair ofchambers in said arm one between said pair of rollers and each side wallof said arm, a spring confined within each chamber each having one endsecured to the rocker-arm, a pair of adjusting screws one connected tothe other end of each spring, and means in said bracket engaged by saidadjusting screws adjustable to adjust the force of said springs.

9. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket havingspaced standards, a hollow rocker-arm arranged between and pivotallymounted on said standards, spaced webs in said rocker-arm, rollersarranged between and journalled in said webs one at each end of therocker-arm, tension spring within the rockerarm one outwardly of eachweb effective to impart snap-action movement to said rocker-arm, meansconnecting one end of each of said springs to said rocker arm, threadedstems one connected to the other end of each spring, and internallythreaded sleeves in the bracket one to threadingly receive each stem,said sleeves each being rotatable to alter the position of the stems soas to adjust the fOrce of the springs.

10. A door closing device comprising, in combination, a bracket havingspaced standards, a hollow rocker-arm arranged between and pivotallymounted on said standards, spaced webs in said rocker-arm, rollersarranged between and journalled in said webs one at each end of therocker-arm, tension springs within the rockerarm one outwardly of eachweb effective to impart snap-action movement to said rocker-arm, meansconnecting one end of each of said springs to said rocker-arm, threadedstems one connected to the other end of each spring, internally threadedsleeves in the bracket one to threadingly receive each stem, saidsleeves each bein .rotat able to alter the position of the stems so asto adjust the force of the springs, and means to secure said sleevesagainst rotation.

GEORGE W. SLOPA.

